Colombia - Four women's frigates with Saab technology

Four frigates are on Colombia's order list. They were ordered from Damen Naval - the ships of the SIGMA 10514 design are to be built in a slightly longer version 10714CO (107 metres, 2,800 tonnes) at Cotecmar in Cartagena on the northern coast of the Caribbean. The programme is called "Strategic Surface Platform" and plans to hand over the first units to the Colombian Navy by 2030.

Damen is supplying the technical components, engineering expertise and accompanying technical support - welding and assembly will take place directly in Cartagena. The modular design of the SIGMA frigates has already been successfully utilised in projects in Indonesia (Martadinata class, two units) and Mexico (Reformador class, one of eight planned units) - in each case with Thales as the system partner.

At the end of February, the Swedish company Saab was awarded the contract to supply and integrate the electrical equipment for the Colombian frigates. Most of the systems will be supplied by the company itself.

This is the first time the Damen and Saab duo have worked together in this form - after an earlier joint bid for the Brazilian Tamandaré frigate was defeated by tkMS.